The parents of a 27-year-old camera assistant who was killed while shooting landscape footage on the Georgia set of The Allman Brothers biopic Midnight Rider have launched a civil lawsuit against the film’s producers. Sarah Jones lost her life in February (14) after she was hit by an oncoming train while attempting to run to safety on a rural Wayne County trestle.
Production on the film, based on Greg Allman’s memoirs, was immediately halted and star William Hurt, who had questioned the safety of crew members in an email sent to a friend days before the accident, has since quit the project. Now, Jones’ parents have named the movie’s producers and the owners of the land, on which the film was being shot at the time of the tragedy, as part of a massive suit, which was filed on Wednesday (21May14).
In total, 10 individuals associated with the film, including executive producer Allman and director Randall Miller, and eight corporations have been named as defendants. In the suit, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Richard and Elizabeth Jones’ lawyer claims the filmmakers selected “an unreasonably dangerous site for the filming location; failed to secure approval for filming… and otherwise failed to take measures to protect the safety of the Midnight Rider cast and crew.”
Six of Sarah Jones’ colleagues were injured in the rush to get to safety as the train appeared. Investigators have revealed Miller and his crew had permission to be on the property, but not on the train tracks themselves. Local authorities have yet to decide whether to file criminal charges in the case.
Allman recently sued director Miller and his production company in an effort to win back the film rights to his life story after insisting the movie project should no longer go ahead. The rocker dropped the lawsuit last week (ends16May14) after reaching an undisclosed agreement with Miller.
